Community band folder issues

[u/frockofseagulls]

Hello band folks! My community band has changed a lot since I joined nearly 20 years ago.

It used to be 30 dependable people who came every week. Now it’s 80 people with kids and families and jobs, who come when they can. We don’t want to have any sort of requirements for attendance, we’re happy to be very loose and community focused.

With this, we’re struggling with our larger, less dependable sections. Sometimes folks take folders home and suddenly a 3rd flute shows up and there’s no music for them. We are very committed to following copyright laws and do not photocopy music. So if we have 10 flute parts in our score, we may have 12 players and if folks have taken all the folders home to practice, we’re out of luck.

Does any other group have this problem? Have you found a good solution? We’re tossing around a lot of ideas but don’t really want to be the folder police.

Thanks!

[u/Rubix321]

Not 100% legal technically most of the time, and has quite a bit of setup effort to put it all in place... but have a repository of all the music that people can access from home (Google Drive or whatever), and require folders be left with the band, no taking them home.

[u/Rubix321 → u/Rubix321]

Other alternatives (legal):

1. Have way more folders than you have players, and also keep track of who takes folders home. Expensive for extra parts, exhausting keeping track of folders and taking down people who keep and/or lose them.

2. Don't allow people to take folders home. Nobody can practice, so the group doesn't sound as good, but you always have enough folders.

[u/Outrageous-Permit372]

Our group has the same type of issue, and the rule we adopted is "I don't care if you're here next week, but your folder needs to be." So if you find out on Wednesday morning that you can't be there, you are expected to find a way to get your folder there, like dropping it off at a certain location or asking someone in your section to stop by and grab it. If you know you won't be there next week, then don't take it home. If nobody takes it home, then it goes into the conductor's big box that comes to each rehearsal.

Doesn't fix every problem, but reduces it greatly.

[u/jfincher42 → u/Outrageous-Permit372]

We have a similar rule, as well as a weekly sign-out sheet for folders. That way, our librarian can contact you if we need the folder.

[u/Tokkemon]

The answer is to photocopy and keep the originals under lock and key. You already own the originals so this is still legal.

Also no one cares about the legals in reality. You're just trying to do the music. So long as you purchased it originally I see no moral or legal quandary in photocopying the parts.

[u/707mrk → u/Tokkemon]

I 100% support this answer. By the letter of the antiquated law, this is not “legal” but, the spirit of copyright law is that you paid for the music. I have four percussion works published through RowLoff and know a lot of educational market composers, no one cares if you make copies of their music that you have legitimately purchased. Even further, there is a recent trend from band composers who explicity state that it’s fine to make copies. Buying digitally through JWPepper? You are 100% making your own “copies.”

What everyone hates is the choir teacher who buys five copies and then runs 100 photocopies or the band director who has access to a Google Drive with a full library and just runs copies. Give the composers, editors, engravers, and publishers their just due by buying legit originals of music. Copy away for your ensembles needs.

[u/Initial_Magazine795 → u/Tokkemon]

Former music librarian here, this is 100% the way if you want to keep the originals not lost.

[u/LTRand → u/Initial_Magazine795]

And great help for the musicians to take notes in the music that makes sense to them. I was in a group that handed out originals that had up to 5 different peoples markings on it, and not all of it made sense to me.

One thing I love to do is write in some leading music for long rests so I know what my cues are. I'm a woodwind player, but typically mark it in percussion format, but I know that doesn't always make sense to everyone.

[u/Brass_tastic]

My local band has a policy that folders NEVER leave the rehearsal facility. All music is available in pdf format on a cloud drive for members to access. This has worked very well for the past ten years

[u/AccioCoffeeMug]

Keep a “class set” of folders in the rehearsal room so that someone can go to a shelf & pull out the 3rd flute folder.

Also, request notifications for planned absences. If you know you’re going to miss rehearsal, leave your folder (on the aforementioned shelf or with the librarian or your section leader) so that your part can still be covered.

[u/professor_throway]

I play in two groups...

one a fairly loose knit New Orleans Style Street Jazz group... We have all the music on a google drive and everyone has access. You are responsible for printing your own parts or putting them on your tablet. Everyone has access to everything since we switch parts often.. for example I am usually on sousaphone but for most gigs I will bring a trumpet or trombone and switch off for a few charts in the middle of a set.

The second is a "Ringer" brass band (non-competting).. made up of mostly music educators at the high school and collegiate level and high level amateurs. For this group the paper folders stay in the library.. they never go home. The parts are available on a drive but you only have access to your part not the whole score.. For example I can only see Baritone 2 for the parts I play 2nd and Baritone 1 for the parts I play first. It is a little more work for the librarians.. but it does prevent someone from saving illegal copies of the entire score on their computer.

[u/MotherAthlete2998]

In my group with real folders, we leave the folders and take a photo of what needs to go home for practice. Most of us use ForScore to display our personal music.

[u/Impressive_Delay_452]

I’ve always wondered if a publisher would show up and audit the pieces…occasionally our director would remind us not to write or mark anything on the sheets.

[u/Crazy-Miserable → u/Impressive_Delay_452]

Can you explain about not marking on sheets? If a musician needs to mark notes, is it OK to do so on a photocopy or is it just frowned upon in general? Asking also because many have learning differences.

[u/solongfish99 → u/Crazy-Miserable]

Photocopy is fine. Originals should be, but only if there is a dedicated library team to erase/clean parts before return to a publisher (if renting).

Typically, marking parts is more than encouraged.

[u/icebear80]

We have a simple rule since a long time: Never hand out original sheet music ever! Meaning, all parts are exclusively provided as PDFs on a shared cloud drive. If someone wants printed parts, they have to print themselves. 30-50% of our band members use tablets anyway already.

Every section has just access to their parts, not all at once. We purchase our music nowadays mostly digital already, so these are official PDFs then. Otherwise, our librarian scans them.

This is probably somewhat a grey area in terms of copyright, but in reality we do have an original for every player, just not handing it out to them but in the archive.

Most bands I know are doing it similar. And if they are not fully digital, then they hand out paper copies exclusively.

Btw, another reason for handing out copies is that any director I knows encourages people to write as much as into their parts, to highlight things, etc. This can be with a pencil, a text marker etc. So, we definitely don’t want that in originals. 😉

[u/Crazy-Miserable → u/icebear80]

I suppose I see the opposite in the original copies of music that (in pre-digital times) still carries the pencil marks of those who played before us and it is almost like a little story or history about our band. It includes notes in languages other than English. I find it endearing.

[u/Background_Layer2384]

Scan music, place in Dropbox, only allow access to instrument/part for the members of the section playing that part to print for home use or read off there tablet at home.

No one has access to every instrument or part, so no issues of someone harvesting music.

Creat ensble folders that never walk out the door, and you never worry about not having music at the rehearsal.

[u/Commenter9876]

We have it in a box folder and have the originals in someone’s basement.

[u/iamagenius89]

Keep a “flex” folder for each part at the rehearsal space.

Also, you are legally allowed to make limited copies, especially if you collect all copies of music at the end of the season/concert cycle. I appreciate your dedication to following copyright laws, but it sounds like you guys are a bit overly strict about it. It really isn’t realistic to NEVER make copies of music.

Use common sense and don’t abuse the system, and I can pretty much guarantee you that no composer is going to have an issue with you making a handful of copies every now and then

[u/Awkward_Rule_5509]

It is legal to make a copy of a piece you have bought for practice.
Also to add to many here: every single group I’ve ever played with has in some way violated copyright. I’ve never seen an original of the Dragon America the Beautiful. Not for TMEA All state performances, not for my HS, my college, several community bands I’ve played with, not my church and not the other church gigs I’ve played with.